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About Otisburg

Mixing elements of pop punk, power pop, and the influence of early '80s hardcore punk, Otisburg strikes a geek driven chord with hooks, harmonies, and a great pop sensibility. Straight forward and no-frills, Otisburg plays quirky punk rock for nerds. Pocket protectors not included.

Otisburg got its start as a punk rock band in 2004 when two friends, Scott Shipp and Brant Watrous, got together with vocalist Steve Long in Seattle, WA. Shortly afterward, the band recruited drummer Matt Hite.

A demo was recorded at a house in the Green Lake neighborhood of Seattle and included the songs “Friends and Ends,” “Hey Jennifer,” “Radio Unfriendly,” and “Star Map.”

A few band lineup changes later, Otisburg "2.0" consisted of a three-piece with Steve, Scott and Brant.

Another demo was recorded at the Green Lake House which included both acoustic and punk rock versions of "Goodbye California." This demo eventually became the Born Yesterday EP and was released in December 2007.

At one point, the band functioned as an acoustic-only project but then they began recording true to form punk rock songs again.

Steve eventually moved from Seattle to the Oklahoma City area and had put together an Otisburg lineup down there with Scott staying on-board as a writing partner. Musically, Otisburg draws from a wide array of influences including bands ranging from Descendents to Screeching Weasel to Face to Face to the Ramones.